Once a place where Native American Indians hunted and fished, this peninsular part of Iowa is located where the Des Moines River flows into the Mississippi River.
Under French and Spanish rule for almost 150 nears, Southeast Iowa was included in . . . — — Map (db m179974) HM
Lisbon is a small community that is full of rich history dating back a long way. Early records show the first settlers were arriving in the mid 1830's. It is said the community was named after Lisbon, Ohio where some of the first settlers came . . . — — Map (db m184817) HM
This tablet commemorates
the advent of the first white
settler in Linn County, Iowa
William Abbe
a true pioneer- a worthy citizen
erected by
Ashley, Mayflower, Marion, Linn & Balliet Chapters
Daughters of the American . . . — — Map (db m96858) HM
Determined and authenticated by the Historical Department of Iowa, 1911. This monument was erected in 1917 by the Iowa Daughters of the American Revolution in memory of the pioneers who followed this trail and its tributaries. We cross the prairie . . . — — Map (db m176631) HM
This area, where Blood Run Creek passes on its way to the Big Sioux River, was inhabited by Native Americans between 1300 and 1750, as many as 4,000 Oneota Indians lived on the fertile prairie. European explorers and traders arrived in the late . . . — — Map (db m211368) HM
The city of Lester was platted by William Thomas and his wife Mary, on Nov. 8, 1889. It is located on the southwest quarter of section 36, township 100, range 47. The town became a key shipping point for this farming community due to the railroad . . . — — Map (db m232736) HM
In 1864 this was the site of Irish immigrant Andrew Crawford's wood-frame grocery store.
This building was erected with one main facade for three stores. Notice the matching second-story windows.
Some of the businesses housed in the east . . . — — Map (db m72517) HM
Mahaska for whom Mahaska County was named was a chief of the Ioway Tribe of Indians he lived at peace with the white man and was slain by an Indian in 1834 at the age of fifty years in what is now Cass County Iowa
The Ioways a powerful tribe . . . — — Map (db m236011) HM
As white men advanced their habitations across Iowa they were retarded from 1842 to 1846 at the Red Rock Line fixed by the Indian Treaty at the Agency, Wappello County, 1842. This line was established and marked by Geo. W. Harrison, 1842, by . . . — — Map (db m188190) HM
crossed north to south near this point.
The line was established by treaty to define the separation between the Indian land and that opened to settlers. The line was patrolled by army dragoons from 1842-1845 to enforce the treaty. It ran north . . . — — Map (db m236536) HM
Red Rock Line
The Red Rock Line was a boundary separating the Sac and Fox Indian tribes from the white settlers expanding westward. The survey of this line began near this monument, on the red sandstone bluffs north of the Des Moines River, . . . — — Map (db m236534) HM
The Baptist Church has had a presence in Iowa since the territory was opened for settlement. Moses J. Post was an ordained Baptist missionary/itinerant preacher who traversed southeastern Iowa starting in 1841. Marion County, in which Pella is . . . — — Map (db m236384) HM
In the spring of 1847 four sailing vessels carrying 800 freedom-seeking Hollanders landed at Baltimore. They were met by Dominie Henry Peter Scholte, their faithful leader, who led them across the Alleghenies to Pittsburgh and down the Ohio and up . . . — — Map (db m235885) HM
Pella's Past (North Side)
Dominie Hendrik Pieter Scholte was leader of 800 Hollanders who arrived here in 1847 to found Pella, the City of Refuge. He is baptizing an infant, characterizing new life in the religious sense and . . . — — Map (db m236404) HM
The history of Pella goes back much further than the settlement of Pella in 1847. The Pella-area's Native American history precedes its Dutch history as the Sac and Fox tribes lived nearby. The Sac became their Americanized name, but they called . . . — — Map (db m236379) HM
The Tuttle Cabin is named for Thomas and Nancy Tuttle, the first pioneer couple to settle at what would later become the city of Pella.
In 1842, the U.S. Government purchased eleven milion acres of the Iowa Territory from the Sauk and Mesquakie . . . — — Map (db m236373) HM
Built in basic Dutch design ca. 1855-1860 by brothers B.H. and J.H.H. Van Spanckeren who came from the Netherlands in 1847. B.H. operated, for a time, a general store on the first floor of the west row house. Nicholas and Virginia Earp and their . . . — — Map (db m236498) HM
Here stands the mature image of Henry Anson, a third generation American who founded Marshall, Iowa in 1853. With his determined and outspoken leadership, the town became the seat of county government in 1860. Later named Marshalltown, the community . . . — — Map (db m150691) HM
Early Pioneer Of This Community Arrived Coonville (Glenwood) July 4, 1849 From England. Operated First Grist Mill Built On This Site By J.W. Coolidge in 1849. Established Sivers-Deupree Mill On Keg Creek North Of Glenwood 1865. Operated Vinton Mill . . . — — Map (db m93065) HM
This Marker Commemorates The Early Trails Across Mills Co. Dragoon 1835 Mormon 1846 Stagecoach 1850 And Honors The Valiant Pioneers Who Travelled Them — — Map (db m93052) HM
In early Osage, people went on camping trips to Nim's ford. This was about ten to twelve miles south of town on the Cedar River. Equipped with tents and provisions, the family might camp out for a week or more.
Some of the Osage campers . . . — — Map (db m142115) HM
Mormon Influence
In 1853, as an expedition of Mormons crossed Iowa en route to Utah, 50 to 60 families left the main group to seek land to settle and to follow the teachings of their leader Charles B. Thompson, a former follower of Joseph . . . — — Map (db m236246) HM
Welcome to our Historic District. We hope this self-guided walking tour will be both interesting and educational. To begin the tour, please take one of the tour guides from the box below and follow the enclosed map. Thanks for spending time with . . . — — Map (db m187691) HM
This original two story building is believed to have been built between 1890-1898 and occupies the site of one of Albia’s early livery stables. Fire maps show a livery south of this building as late as 1913. The owner, M. E. Hennion was a pioneer . . . — — Map (db m187898) HM
The first time court was held in Monroe County it was convened in a log house at Clark’s Point, Judge Charles Mason presiding. There was no floor in the house and during the session the judge, the lawyers and the court officials slept on the . . . — — Map (db m187700) HM
This building was built by Samuel Nobel in 1890. He was born November 30, 1819 in Hunting Co., Pennsylvania. In 1845 he moved to Fairfield, Iowa and four years later moved to Albia. At that time he started a dry goods store and ran that until 1865. . . . — — Map (db m188097) HM
Built by 1891 this two story double front building has housed a number of businesses over the years. It is thought that the businesses who would lease the building may have been allowed to choose some of the elements of the building front as the . . . — — Map (db m188098) HM
This building like others from its period, was built in Italianate style. This one features cast hoodmolds, a metal cornice and an almost original second story. Although this appears to be one building it was originally two. The north half was . . . — — Map (db m188093) HM
Near the location of this marker is the site of Buxton, once the largest town in Monroe County. A coal boom town, it was founded in 1900 by the railroad which operated the five mines in the vicinity. At its peak, Buxton numbered over 6,000 . . . — — Map (db m224591) HM
and in honor and remembrance of pioneers who founded town of Milford. 1st area settlers — Wm. & Anna Stipe 1853 Donahoe & Smith purchased and platted in 1858 and 1859 — — Map (db m193902) HM
On May 26, 1871 — four young pioneers from eastern Iowa, traveling in a prairie schooner located the government survey marker at this corner, from which, with the aid of a compass and a rag tied around their wagon wheel, located on the . . . — — Map (db m161836) HM
In recognition of their virtues and in acknowledgment of the debt we owe them, we gratefully dedicate this memorial to the
Early Settlers of
Southwestern Iowa
Erected Nov. 2, 1939 — — Map (db m87715) HM
These railroad tracks were laid by the Milwaukee Company in August 1878. The company also built the depot that stood just north of here, on the other side of the tracks. In doing so, the Milwaukee Company, which owned the town site, laid the . . . — — Map (db m238304) HM
Prairie Engine recalls the early days of the railroad and its importance in the development of Clive. The sculpture conveys the power and movement of a by-gone era and historically connects Clive's past to its present.
The deep brown . . . — — Map (db m236237) HM
Fort Des Moines No. 2
Established May 1843 — Evacuated March 1846
This cabin is a memorial to the military outpost, Fort Des Moines No. 2, occupied by Company I, First Regiment U. S. Dragoons and Company F First U. S. Infantry. The . . . — — Map (db m84100) HM
Sacred to the memory of Willson Alexander Scott who gave to the State of Iowa the greater part of the land where stands the Capitol
Born in Crawford County, Indiana November 20, 1818. He acquired some five hundred acres of land . . . — — Map (db m236130) HM
The fork of the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers was recognized as an ideal site a military post as early 1834. Fort Des Moines was established in 1843, but was abandoned in 1846 following the treaty whereby the Sauk and Mesquakie Indians relinquished . . . — — Map (db m33009) HM
This church was built by Thomas Mitchell. Thomas Mitchell was born in New Hampshire in 1816. he came to Iowa Territory in 1840, and in 1844 became the first white settler of Polk County. He built cabins and later inns to feed and shelter the . . . — — Map (db m44833) HM
Pioneers for Emancipation
The man who built this house was James Cunningham Jordan (1813–1891). He and his wife Melinda were the earliest settlers in Walnut Township, Iowa (now West Des Moines). When he was thirty-three Mr. Jordan built a . . . — — Map (db m236559) HM
October 1842 – Land is transferred to the United States
1845 - Iowa opened for homesteaders
Spring of 1846 - First settlers moved into Walnut Township, future site of West Des Moines
1849 - Church services began in the Jordan log cabin . . . — — Map (db m236554) HM
Hyde Park was a small farming community just west of here, founded in 1847 by Mormon pioneers. It was named for Orson Hyde, an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who took up residence here when he returned that spring from . . . — — Map (db m93960) HM
Some 10,000 goldseekers ferried the Missouri River at Council Bluffs in 1849. The settlement was "only a little Burg between two high bluffs," but over the next two decades it became the preferred "jumping off" point for thousands of overland . . . — — Map (db m93961) HM
This historic cemetery of Kanesville (now Council Bluffs) was created as the resting place for the mortal remains of several hundred Mormon pioneers. From 1846 to 1853, thousands of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the . . . — — Map (db m93973) HM
One of the most remarkable infantry marches in American history began here in July 1846 with the mustering of the Mormon Battalion. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) responded to the request from President James K. . . . — — Map (db m22662) HM
This Boulder commemorates the early travel upon the Mormon Trail through Kanseville, now Council Bluffs and is dedicated to the memory of the throngs who crossed Iowa in advance of settlements. Here thousands of pioneers encamped awaiting pasturage . . . — — Map (db m45065) HM
The Council Bluffs area was the scene of such important events in Iowa history as the explorations of Lewis and Clark, the Mormon Trail, the Missouri River steamboat traffic and the railroad industry. Francois Guittar established the first white . . . — — Map (db m224579) HM
The Council Bluffs area was the scene of such important events in Iowa history as the explorations of Lewis and Clark, the Mormon Trail, the Missouri River steamboat traffic and the railroad industry. Francois Guittar established the first white . . . — — Map (db m224580) HM
Iowa Rural Schools HistoryWillow Tree School (Richland #1) is representative of Iowa's 12,623 rural schools that made up the State of Iowa's Rural School System from 1858-1966. Iowa was progressive in designing an equitable public school system . . . — — Map (db m162251) HM
Marker Front: In 1829, William C. Redfield declared that Davenport lay opposite the future terminus of a “geographical trunk-line route” between the Atlantic and the Mississippi. Nine years later, in 1838, the Iowa Sun and Davenport and . . . — — Map (db m224582) HM
Born in Dundee, Scotland, James MacKintosh traveled to Canada in 1817 and became a bookbinder. In 1835 he journeyed to Iowa, explored the state's unpeopled prairies, and became one of the founding fathers of Davenport. In October, 1836, in a log . . . — — Map (db m202088) HM
William Frederick Cody, "Buffalo Bill", son of Isaac and Mary Cody, was born near this site on February 26, 1846. His parents purchased land from the United States of America land patent on September 16, 1841. They built a log cabin in the NE ¼ of . . . — — Map (db m174978) HM
Walnut Grove was a Scott County crossroads
settlement and stagecoach stop of the 1860's. The
village includes several historic buildings, some
relocated from rural Scott County. Olde St. Ann's
church (e. 1852) was moved in 1985 and restored to . . . — — Map (db m230342) HM
This log cabin was originally located northeast of Creston in Lincoln township. The cabin was built by the Emhoff family sometime after the land was purchased in 1855. The family started adding rooms as their 9 children were being born. This cabin . . . — — Map (db m86878) HM
(front of main marker)
Mt. Pisgah - Mormon Pioneer Way Station
Between 300 and 400 Mormon pioneers perished here from 1846 to 1852. Having been driven from their homes by armed mobs, they stopped here on their westward trek, named it . . . — — Map (db m20995) HM
In 1835, the county’s first settler’s home was built here by Adam Ritchey. The Moorehead family owned the land for the next 100 years. The first school was also here. — — Map (db m185713) HM
Beginning in February of 1846, the vanguard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) struggled across southern Iowa on the way to their "New Zion" in the Rocky Mountains.
The trek from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Kanesville . . . — — Map (db m90402) HM
On January 15, 1851, Gov. Stephen Hempstead approved an act of the Iowa legislation creating 50 new counties out of the unorganized territory in the Western portion of the state. One section of that act provided: "That the following shall be . . . — — Map (db m133489) HM
On June 7, 1848, Hamilton Campbell, with his wife and two year old son, arrived at this site, and so became Winneseik County’s first white settler. Campbell travelled by oxen team and covered wagon over the Old Military Trail road to arrive at the . . . — — Map (db m203148) HM
Overview Mikkel and Hage Sennes emigrated from Norway with a variety of skills that helped them eventually thrive in America. They also learned new skills once they settled in the U.S. They built this blacksmith shop on their farm in Minnesota . . . — — Map (db m236609) HM
The land on which you are standing has been inhabited by Indigenous people since time immemorial. The most recent Indigenous Tribe to live here was the Ho-Chunk (Ho-chungra, Winnebago) Nation. The ancestral lands of the Ho-Chunk consists of ten . . . — — Map (db m235998) HM
The Millrace: Harnessing Decorah’s Water Power Demosthenes, Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens observed: "Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises." During an 1848 scouting trip to appraise the . . . — — Map (db m239880) HM
One of the First The limestone building across the street from where you are standing is one of the oldest structures in Decorah. Built in 1855 by one of Decorah's first settlers, William Painter, it has served as a home, bakery, . . . — — Map (db m239899) HM
Connecting to the Outside World The longed-for arrival of the railroad in Decorah on September 1, 1869 was cause for much celebration with speeches and opportunities for short excursion trips to Conover as part of the festivities. . . . — — Map (db m241100) HM
A Street in Transition The face of Water Street has changed over the years. Beginning with the arrival of settlers in 1849, houses and small businesses sprang up in what is now the Water Street business district. The photo above . . . — — Map (db m241508) HM
Decorah Time Lapse: North Side Robert Frost observed, “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” If a time lapse film of this block had been taken, it would reveal how life has “gone on” — changes . . . — — Map (db m241700) HM
Time and the River The presence of water has always played an important part in Decorah's history. The Winnebago and the Oneota before them fished the river, hunted mussels in its depths, and made their dwellings beside it. The . . . — — Map (db m241900) HM
The Pioneer Store The first store in Decorah was located on the corner of Water and Washington Streets just west of where you are now standing. Built in 1851, this frame structure was operated by Aaron Newell and Morris B. Derrick. . . . — — Map (db m242100) HM
Broadway Beginnings
Many of the first homes in Decorah were built near the river where the business district now stands and along the roads leading into town. As Decorah grew, those who could afford to do so built farther away from the river . . . — — Map (db m242200) HM
The Courthouse Square Winneshiek County's courthouse square is typical of others found throughout the Midwest. Churches, businesses, the public library and homes ring the perimeter. But change has been a constant as the years have . . . — — Map (db m242600) HM
Overview New immigrants often moved to existing ethnic communities where faith, food, and culture were familiar. Sometimes, these new immigrants would need to navigate shared living space and class differences with strangers along with living . . . — — Map (db m236297) HM
Overview Hans and Anna Haugan were in their fifties when they immigrated to America. Not everyone who immigrated to America stayed. By some estimates, nearly one in five Norwegian immigrants returned home. Some left because they earned enough . . . — — Map (db m236300) HM
Overview Nineteenth century Norwegian farmers grew food for their families instead of for income. Many farms in Norway used small water-powered mills to grind grain, press apples and process cloth. These mills were usually only big enough to . . . — — Map (db m236295) HM
Overview Northeast Iowa was home to many different Native American groups that utilized the natural resources of this area for thousands of years. After Native Americans were forced out of the region by the U.S. government, European settlers . . . — — Map (db m236400) HM
Overview Vesterheim was the first institution in the United States to collect and preserve buildings by moving them to a museum setting. The Eriksen-Hansen Stabbur protected grain and meat from pests and moisture by elevating them off the . . . — — Map (db m236399) HM
Overview Native Americans lived in northeast Iowa for thousands of years before being forced off their land by the U.S. government to make room for non-native settlers. Colonizers arrived in this area in 1848 and came from numerous countries in . . . — — Map (db m236608) HM
Overview Many buildings on farms in Norway were designed to serve one purpose. This building was probably used to dry grain for brewing beer. While many Norwegians and Norwegian Americans brewed their own beer, others fought for temperance. . . . — — Map (db m236672) HM
To Build, or Not to Build Controversy surrounded the construction of both the 1857 and the 1904 Winneshiek County courthouses. When local residents proposed building the first courthouse in the 1850s, another faction maintained it wasn't . . . — — Map (db m235961) HM
Overview Norway's population nearly tripled during the 19th century. This increase, combined with restrictive inheritance laws and lack of farmable land, made it extremely difficult to escape rural poverty. Most Norwegian immigrants were from . . . — — Map (db m236296) HM
Look up to see sails. Look down and around you to see the outline of a small ship. Imagine what it would have been like to immigrate to the United States on a sailing ship in the 1800s. The journey may take 6 to 14 weeks. Why are you leaving your . . . — — Map (db m236682) HM
Vesterheim explores the diversity of American immigration through the lens of the Norwegian-American experience and showcases the best in historic and contemporary folk arts in the Norwegian tradition.
Overview The Homestead Act of 1862 made government land taken from Native Americans available for free if it was used for five years. This law allowed millions of European immigrants to settle in the prairies and woodlands of the central . . . — — Map (db m236673) HM
Winneshiek County Jail The jail was originally housed in the first courthouse built in 1857 and located in the basement on the west side of the courthouse. When additional courthouse space was needed, the building you see in the southeast . . . — — Map (db m235993) HM
Fort Atkinson was established in 1840 to monitor the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Nation who had been forced to move from their traditional homeland in Wisconsin to the Neutral Ground in northeastern Iowa. The fort's founder, Brigadier General Henry . . . — — Map (db m173841) HM
On the east side of the parade ground was another Officers' Quarters. This was a two-story stone building with gardens and three privies behind it. The commanding officer, Captain C. V. Sumner, had his quarters in the north end of this building. . . . — — Map (db m173851) HM
Fort Atkinson was founded in 1840 as a temporary post to keep the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Indians west of the Mississippi River on the land known as the Neutral Ground after their removal from Wisconsin. The Neutral Ground was intended for exclusive . . . — — Map (db m90570) HM
To the right of the main gate is a two-story limestone building, one of the two barracks for enlisted men. The eastern portion of the building served as a hospital. The first floor had mess rooms for eating, a kitchen, and a commandant's office. The . . . — — Map (db m173843) HM
On the outside of the stockade near the southeast corner of the fort, a path ran down to the bottom of the bluff. Here two small log buildings were built into the side of the river bank. One was used to store ice cut from the river in the winter and . . . — — Map (db m173852) HM
The south enlisted men's barracks was a two-story log structure with raised stone platforms in the center of the foundations to help support the wooden floors. This building also served as a schoolroom for the officers' children and as a church on . . . — — Map (db m173850) HM
The fort is laid out in a rectangular shape with the four main barracks arranged around a central parade ground. At 11 feet 9 inches high, the stockade surrounds the main buildings. The pickets, made mostly of oak and some linwood and bass, were . . . — — Map (db m173855) HM
Supply and Demand
The Sutler's Store was not government property. It was build and owned by H. M. Rice. Here, soldiers could purchase miscellaneous personal items such as clay pipes, tobacco, and combs. To haul all his goods, the sutler . . . — — Map (db m173847) HM
